Bicycle rims having a single channel, at the side walls or wings of which the beads of the tire are coupled through protruding lips of the wings, and on the bottom of which a plurality of holes are made for the attachment of respective spokes, are known.
In order to increase the structural stiffness and to reduce the deformability from side loads, bicycle rims having a cross-section that defines a radially outer circumferential channel for tire coupling and an essentially hollow, radially inner circumferential body region are also known. The tire coupling channel and the body region are separated by a wall indicated in the field and hereafter as “upper bridge.”
Although the channel is subject to standards or shape and tolerance restrictions in view of its coupling with the tire, the radially inner region can have various configurations, provided that it offers a suitable clamping surface for the spokes and provided that the conflicting requirements of sufficient structural stiffness and low weight are adequately satisfied.
Typical configurations of a bicycle rim of the second known type, to which the present invention refers, include an inverted A-shaped cross-section, i.e. where the radially inner body region is formed of a single chamber, defined by the upper bridge, two side walls, and a radially inner circumferential wall also called “lower bridge.” The chamber can have an essentially rectangular cross-section, i.e. wherein the side walls are substantially parallel to the middle plane of the rim, an essentially trapezoidal cross-section that is symmetrical with respect to the middle plane of the rim, i.e. wherein the side walls are oblique, or else an essentially asymmetrical trapezoidal cross-section, i.e. wherein a first side wall substantially extends in a plane parallel to the middle plane of the rim and a second wall extends obliquely.
In other configurations, typical of rims obtained by extrusion and calendering, but that can also be made of structural fiber-based composite material, the radially inner region is provided with one or more partition walls, extending substantially parallel to the upper bridge or substantially transversal to it, so as to define two or more circumferential chambers.
EP 1 231 077, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for producing a bicycle rim, and such a rim, of the type which has an inner peripheral wall, an outer peripheral wall, two side walls connecting them, and two circumferential wings for anchoring a tire extending outwards from the two sides of the peripheral outer wall. The manufacturing method comprises the steps of: applying onto the inner part of a mold a certain number of layers of plies of structural fibers incorporated in a plastic material matrix, intended to form the inner wall, the outer wall, the two side walls and the wings; arranging an inflatable bag over the layers; folding a first number of layers over the inflatable bag; applying at least one core over the folded layers; folding a second number of layers over the core; applying the outer part of the mold to enclose the layers; inflating the inflatable bag to press the layers against the mold; increasing the temperature of the mold to a value sufficient for the reticulation of the plastic material matrix; removing the rim from the mold and removing the core, obtaining a single-piece rim made of a structural fiber material. Apart from first additional layers that may be applied to increase the thickness of the outer wall and/or of the two wings, it is provided that second additional layers may be applied to fill the side regions of the outer wall from which said wings depart, said second additional layers being, in particular, folded or wound plies of structural fibers.
The Applicant has experimentally found that, in a rim of the type described in EP 1 231 077, the intersection regions among the upper bridge, the side walls and the wings are subjected to breaking following the application of a certain stress onto the wings themselves, in particular in the tire burst test. Analogous breaking should therefore be expected in the case of impacts to the rim, as caused for example by stones, falling and the like during the use of a bicycle equipped with such a rim, as well as between other walls of the rim in the case of rims made by an analogous process, but having a body region with a more complex cross-section, for example with many circumferential chambers.
The technical problem that the current invention addresses is that of avoiding such a drawback of the prior art, while improving the overall strength to stress, in particular to stresses substantially in the axial direction, of the bicycle rim in general and of the intersection zone among the upper bridge, the side walls and the wings in particular.